AGROTOXICS AND HUMAN HEALTH: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION IN THE NORTHERN PART OF MINAS GERAIS

Abstract

Brazil is considered one of the largest agricultural producers and is responsible for supplying a large part of the world demand for food. Parallel to this productivity, the use of transgenic seeds and chemical inputs such as agrochemicals is growing to ensure protection against crop losses. Therefore, municipalities whose economy is agricultural based and which make abundant use of agrochemicals are vulnerable, since the risk of contamination is related to the way in which the population is related to the existing dangers, a process that is intertwined with the determinants of social, cultural and economic. In this way, the objective of this work is to discuss the health vulnerabilities related to the agricultural production process based on agrochemicals in the North of Minas Gerais, considering the socioeconomic indicators, the agrarian structure of the rural establishments and the poisonings associated with the use of agrochemicals. For this, the methodology used consisted of bibliographic review, secondary data search in management organs such as the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE and the Information System of Injuries and Notifications - SINAN, besides the mapping. It is concluded that the North of Minas Gerais is a propitious space for contamination and intoxication by pesticides, because it has a social and economic fragility that directly influences the access to information on the handling of pesticides and health services or other public services essential.